I'm a 5' 3.5'', 29-year-old, mixed Vietnamese/German-Irish woman. When I was a little kid, I was a stick, but then sometime around fourth grade I was labeled and called fat by my peers once puberty hit. My parents didn't really help me much in this department as they'd chide me that if I ate too much I could be overweight or comment that I was gaining weight during these years. This caused me to compare my thicker body-type to my thin Asian cousins whereas my Caucasian cousins were always a little thicker. It just set me down this downward spiral of low self-esteem.

This morning I decided to write myself a letter, then when I got started writing I thought maybe I wanted to write everyone a letter. This itch may have started when a guy I had been seeing told me he could no longer see me in a romantic manner because I was too chubby for him. Well, for those of you who love the victory karma, haha, in-yo-face moment, here it is. I am poor. I’m a full time college student without a job. I can’t afford to wear clothes that show off my figure. However, yesterday the guy who broke it off with me saw me walk out of the gym. He stopped in his tracks and did a double. He walked up to me and told me I looked amazing. He saw me two weeks ago, not wearing my gym attire, and I was too chubby for him. I just looked at him, wondered what I ever saw in him, and walked away.

Among the most common questions we get asked is: why was my photo upload rejected?
So we thought we'd put together this FAQ...
(And we'll update this with some picture examples soon!)
Things that will get your uploaded picture rejected:

This issue’s feature story for the newletter was going to be about our updated guidelines for picture uploads, but a little Facebook snafu provided a more provocative topic. On our Facebook page (which you should follow if you don’t already), we regularly post articles of interest about body image and body positivity. Sometimes these venture into areas that some people might consider risqué. We try to flag such articles as NSFW (not safe for work) or somehow indicate that the content might be problematic. Usually the thumbnail images accompanying articles have been chosen to be “Facebook friendly” (e.g. no female nipples), but occasionally they are borderline.

The My Body Gallery project needs real Women! We need your help to develop the project and build a collection of photos that will help more women see themselves more clearly. Upload a picture of your full body. Our photo submission process also allows you to block out part of the image to protect your identity, if you wish. Please note that you must be 18 to upload a photo.